"Tesla Says Blogger’s Battery Post Sparked ‘Irrational’ Fear" (TSLA)

Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the maker of
electric cars run by entrepreneur Elon Musk, said a blog post
asserting Roadster batteries are at risk of failing if owners
don’t keep the cars plugged in stoked an “irrational” fear.

“A single blogger is spreading a rumor about electric
vehicles becoming inoperable,” a condition referred to as
“bricking,” the Palo Alto, California-based company said today
on its website. “‘Bricking’ is an irrational fear based on
limited information and a misunderstanding of Tesla’s battery
system.”

Tesla was responding to a Feb. 21 post on a blog called the
Understatement, which said if the battery in the Roadster
electric car “is ever totally discharged, the owner is left
with what Tesla describes as a ‘brick’: a completely immobile
vehicle that cannot be started or even pushed down the street.”
At that point, a $40,000 battery pack replacement may be
required, according to the Understatement, which cited no one.

Scrutiny of Tesla’s technology comes as the carmaker
prepares to sell its first wholly U.S.-built vehicle, the
electric Model S sedan, starting in July. The company, named for
inventor Nikola Tesla, this month also showed a prototype of the
Model X, an electric crossover vehicle that arrives in 2013.

Tesla fell 2.3 percent to $33.75 at the close in New York.
The shares gained 18 percent this year.

Instructions to Owners
“You’d really have to not use the vehicle for an extended
period for this to be an issue.” said David Friedman, a senior
engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental
advocacy group. In such cases, “it raises the question: Why did
you buy an electric vehicle if you aren’t going to use it?” he
said....MORE